American activist Pamela Geller’s Edmonton bus ads were taken down
after a few complaints claiming the ads were discriminatory. Geller said
it was astonishing that helping Muslim girls is considered offensive
and racist.

EDMONTON-NEW YORK-TORONTO – Five complaints: that’s all it took to
compel the City of Edmonton to pull American activist Pamela Geller’s
honour killing awareness campaign from city buses.

“We were being proactive in nature and just pulled the ads,” said
City of Edmonton spokesperson Cheryl Oxford in a phone interview.

The decision was made by “senior officials within the City of Edmonton.”

This may be the first time the administration has stepped in and removed ads from city property, she said.

The ads featured photos of seven young women with the text: “Muslim
Girls Honor Killed by Their Families. Is Your Family Threatening You? Is
There a Fatwa on Your Head?” and contact information for people that
“can help.”

“There were several [calls] that came in all at once,” said Oxford.
“Some people found [the ads] to be discriminatory in nature, so that’s
definitely concerning to us. In the advertising world, some ads might be
more controversial than others, but that’s very different than being
discriminatory in nature, so we take that type of complaint quite
seriously.”

There will be no review or appeals process; the ads will not be
returning to city property, she said. Although two people complained to
Advertising Standards Canada, that body will not be investigating
because the ads have been taken down, according to Oxford.

The ads were paid for by Geller’s organizations, American Freedom
Defense Initiative (AFDI) and Stop the Islamization of American (SIOA),
and were to run on 10 buses for one month; instead, they ran on five
buses for five days before being yanked.

This won’t stop the American activist from trying to run her campaign elsewhere in Canada.

“I am exploring options and working to expand this campaign in
Canada,” said Geller in a phone interview from New York, adding that it
was “astonishing” that “helping Muslim girls is [considered] offensive
and ‘racist.’”

Geller decided to run the ads in Edmonton after being contacted by people who lived there.

“There are ads running in Edmonton proselytizing for Islam,” said
Geller. “Why not ads offering help for Muslims in desperate need of
help?”

Comments

It is astonishing that helping Muslim girls is considered offensive and racist

Here is a good piece summing up the outrageous absurdity of the taking down of our ads in Edmonton offering help to Muslim girls in danger of honor killing.

American activist Pamela Geller’s Edmonton bus ads were taken down
after a few complaints claiming the ads were discriminatory. Geller said
it was astonishing that helping Muslim girls is considered offensive
and racist.

EDMONTON-NEW YORK-TORONTO – Five complaints: that’s all it took to
compel the City of Edmonton to pull American activist Pamela Geller’s
honour killing awareness campaign from city buses.

“We were being proactive in nature and just pulled the ads,” said
City of Edmonton spokesperson Cheryl Oxford in a phone interview.

The decision was made by “senior officials within the City of Edmonton.”

This may be the first time the administration has stepped in and removed ads from city property, she said.

The ads featured photos of seven young women with the text: “Muslim
Girls Honor Killed by Their Families. Is Your Family Threatening You? Is
There a Fatwa on Your Head?” and contact information for people that
“can help.”

“There were several [calls] that came in all at once,” said Oxford.
“Some people found [the ads] to be discriminatory in nature, so that’s
definitely concerning to us. In the advertising world, some ads might be
more controversial than others, but that’s very different than being
discriminatory in nature, so we take that type of complaint quite
seriously.”

There will be no review or appeals process; the ads will not be
returning to city property, she said. Although two people complained to
Advertising Standards Canada, that body will not be investigating
because the ads have been taken down, according to Oxford.

The ads were paid for by Geller’s organizations, American Freedom
Defense Initiative (AFDI) and Stop the Islamization of American (SIOA),
and were to run on 10 buses for one month; instead, they ran on five
buses for five days before being yanked.

This won’t stop the American activist from trying to run her campaign elsewhere in Canada.

“I am exploring options and working to expand this campaign in
Canada,” said Geller in a phone interview from New York, adding that it
was “astonishing” that “helping Muslim girls is [considered] offensive
and ‘racist.’”

Geller decided to run the ads in Edmonton after being contacted by people who lived there.

“There are ads running in Edmonton proselytizing for Islam,” said
Geller. “Why not ads offering help for Muslims in desperate need of
help?”